The irony wasn't lost on the CEO who sat down with Laurie McGraw at HLTH 2025. Here she was, running a company literally called Bold, serving 10 million older adults—while downplaying every credential that made her qualified to run it.
"You've accomplished, you're a chemical and biological engineer. You've done all of this amazing work in policy and investing and grant making, and you sort of downplay all of it," her advisor told her. "That doesn't help anyone. It definitely doesn't help you."
Amanda explained to Laurie what hit her hardest about that conversation: "It's almost ironic that your company is called Bold and you're taking this approach that makes you seem so much less bold than you are when you're just one-on-one having a beer and talking to someone."
How many of us do this? Make ourselves smaller to fit into rooms we've earned the right to be in. Use qualifiers and apologies before stating facts about our own accomplishments. Dim our light because we're afraid of being seen as arrogant.
Amanda's response to that feedback? "I only need to be given that feedback once."
The question wasn't whether she was qualified—she objectively was. The question was why she was so committed to hiding it. Making yourself small doesn't protect you from criticism. It just guarantees you'll be overlooked.
Your authentic self is the person investors need to meet. That's the person your team needs to follow. Not the diminished version you think people want to see.
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